Tag Archive: Tolerance

Before I got baptized, I had always been a critic of the frequent church-goer; who on Sunday, in their Sunday best would praise the Lord with all their heart, and all their soul and all their might…then on Monday don the ski mask and rob you blind. And it was unfortunate for me that I knew so many of them. There were few people I met who I could say were truly spiritually in-tune and showed that both in and out of the office.

I remember countless sermons in church that taught one thing and I ended up doing the other the very next day; a sermon on taming the tongue…and the next day insulted my manager in all the international languages I had acquired.

Then I made the glorious change in my life and was baptized. I was a new person. I had a new outlook for life, I had new joy and peace within me and for the first time I had an overwhelming amount of hope. But I was still working in the same office that drove me up the wall. It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t too hard for me to quickly become a Sunday angel and the next day be a Monday Devil.

I remember countless sermons in church that taught one thing and I ended up doing the other the very next day; a sermon on taming the tongue…and the next day insulted my manager in all the international languages I had acquired. A sermon on patience, and the next day wanting to chop off the head of a matatu tout for short changing me. One on being a Samaritan to those around me; helping them up…yet the next day tearing them down. There was a problem. There was a missing link.

Not only was I not applying everything I’d learned the day before where it mattered the most; I was breaking one of my most sacred vows…putting God first and having Him guide me wherever I go. I could be wrong (though I highly doubt it) but I don’t think God intended me to be a razor-sharp clawed, fire breathing vixen in the office.

But many people claim and say that God does not belong in the office (unless your office is some form of ministry). That religion and politics do not and should not mix; and that “me” as the politician is totally different from “me” as the religious person. But where else can one practice the principals learned on that religious Sunday?

Finally, I did what every struggling Christian thinks last to do…I prayed. I asked how do I bring God into the office? How can I show, that something within me has changed…that God is fully with me and that I am a changed person?”

The answer did not come easily and the application of the same is harder still. It required of me to hold back when I wanted to go forward. Or stand firm when I wanted to flee. It meant me persevering when I wanted to quit; and letting go when I wanted to hold on. It took more of me than I thought it would but I gained all the more back. The peace that resonated within me from my decision was now spilling into the one place people said it should not go.

And that is when I knew…it’s not the preaching in the office; neither the countless bible verses exhibited your work space; nor the continuous exclamation that “I am a Christian woman” that makes the difference. It is God, living within you, guiding, transforming and emancipating you, that makes the difference wherever you go.

I once told a saved friend of mine that Professor Gale would go to heaven before she did. She thought not.

Now, Professor Gale was our political science lecturer and a self confessed atheist. He thought we were all deluded to believe in God and we once had a one-hour argument about it in class. But Dr. Gale is the most selfless person I have ever met. If anyone lives by Christ’s example it is he. He cares nothing for himself (you should see the way he dresses) and everything for others. Especially disadvantaged women and children. He even once tried to get our University to donate some land towards building a shelter for abused women. He cares nothing for material possessions. The guy lives at YMCA and used to lecture at University only to get enough money to live by. He teaches for free in the slums and in fact he encouraged use to spare the time to do so. (Though he told us one day that one of his former students waved to him from a prison van so I don’t know how much success he is having with that!)

My question is. Why do we get stuck over membership and not the membership values we should espouse? Gale is not a Christian. Neither is he a Muslim or a Hindu or any other religion. He is like Mahatma Gandhi. He espouses the values of all these religions. Which is what we should all try to do.

Someone once said to me; we should be meeting up in church. So I responded, I don’t really go to church. And you should have seen the look of horror that crossed their face. So they ask me why? And I respond I am not a Christian. And at that they almost collapse. Coz they know I am not a Muslim (apparently the lack of a Hijab or an Arabic sounding name disqualifies you from that). They immediately assumed I am an atheist and don’t believe in God. In fact, that’s exactly what they said with a sneer, “So you are an atheist!” (And what’s wrong with being an atheist? I will discuss that in a later post)

It was not the shock that disturbed me. It was the look I was given. The look said I was of a lesser value. Less of a person. Less moral because I do not go to Church. My integrity was called into question. I know that there is a relationship between morality and religion. But as we have seen from the thinking of terrorists, morals can be twisted in the name of religion. From that conversation I understood why atheists in the UK have felt a need to form an association(s). I guess they felt they needed support. I found it particularly funny when they responded to some Christian posters/adverts that were appearing on buses. The Christian posters went something like “God is coming soon so now is your chance.” And the atheists countered, “There is no God so stop worrying about it.” Atheists founding an organization with people that adhere to a particular belief. Hmmm. Kinda sounds ironic don’t it? But now I see their point. Given it is Europe that is a lot less religious than anywhere in the world, I think they felt that they needed some support system or structure. To meet with like-minded people. Because if they were getting the same response I was getting (and I am not even an atheist) then I don’t blame them.

I have never felt anything other than appreciated, loved and supported by all of you. Whatever my beliefs.

Then I thought what a joy it is to have the friends that I do. We appreciate each other’s beliefs and encourage learning and interaction without belittling anyone. I have never felt anything other than appreciated, loved and supported by all of you. Whatever my beliefs. Why can’t the world be more like us?